The last three years have been exceptionally good for powered loudspeakers. This is good and bad. Good, because there are so many excellent choices now. For the most part these speakers all sound great, and they're generally better than most of the midfield monitors available ten or so years ago. Bad, because it's so damn hard to choose.

I chose ten of the more well-known speakers to review. All of them are biamplified systems with between 90 and 250 watts of total system power. Eight of them use 8 inch woofers. All are ported systems: nine conventionally ported, one with a passive radiator. Most utilize liquid-cooled metal dome tweeters with computer-designed tweeter waveguides. All are approximately the same size and weight, give or take.

Are you starting to see a pattern emerge?

The real differences are differences in price – which varies widely – and details of quality and design. Most of these systems are really excellent. However, as I studied and l ... Read More »

The KRK V8 is a biamplified system with an 8" woofer and 1" silk dome tweeter. Probably the most remarkable attribute of this system is its unusual gold-colored woven Kevlar woofer cone. The system is ported with a long, narrow port that extends across the bottom of the cabinet. The cabinet has the typical KRK look with it's stone-like Zolatone coating. Read More »

The Dynaudio BM6A is a biamplified nearfield with a 7" woofer and a 1" silk dome tweeter. The speaker is the only one of the bunch to offer a rear-mounted port. The system enjoys a reputation has having excellent transient response, and excellent imaging, resulting primarily from the unusual and rather amazing woofer – this little 7" woofer sports a huge 3" voice coil and a powerful magnet, giving it a powerful electromagnetic engine. Read More »

Roland has its own unique approach to the powered nearfield solution. The DS-90 is billed as a "digital monitor speaker". The system features 24 bit D/A converters that allow the user to feed the speakers directly from the digital output of a digital mixer. Read More »

The Behringer Truth B2031 is a biamplified monitor featuring an 8" polycarbonate woofer and a 1" ferrofluid-cooled titanium tweeter. A 150 watt amplifier drives the bass speaker while a 75 watt amplifier powers the tweeter. The tweeter is mounted into a computer-designed waveguide horn to improve imaging and time alignment. Read More »

Probably the most popular biamplified nearfield in use in major production facilities, the Genelec 1031A has seen widespread acceptance in broadcast, video post, 5.1 mixing, and music production and mastering facilities (in fact all of the local post facilities I've worked in use Genelec 1031As). The 1031A offers an 8" polypropylene woofer and 1" metal dome tweeter housed in a computer-designed waveguide. Power is provided by a pair of 120 watt amplifiers. Read More »

Am I in Heaven, or what!

The Gibson Les Paul. Quite a guitar. From Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton through the Allman Brothers and Joe Walsh, to Slash and... er... Les Paul... some of the most famous guitar players in the world have used the Les Paul to obtain their signature sounds.

The most famous and desirable of all the Les Pauls is the Les Paul Standard. Produced from 1958 to 1960, this was a cherry sunburst instrument with 'Patent Applied For' Humbucking pickups. The "Burst" is the Holy Grail of Les Paul instruments, fetching stunning amounts of money on the international collectors market. A fellow that I know brokered a deal to sell one for $125,000. Unbelievable. But my favorite Les Paul has always been the original, simple, elegant gold top Les Paul Model guitar.

The year is 1952. Gibson has partnered with an innovative inventor/guitarist to create a new and different kind of guitar. After several prototypes and modifications, the original Les Paul Mod ... Read More »

In the Field

Virtual Memory

Once again it's time to build a new "Roll Your Own" Computer for audio!

A lot has changed since I wrote the last installment of "Roll Your Own". The price of both CPUs and memory modules has dropped dramatically. So much so that some of the cost cutting measures we used in the past RYO's aren't really necessary now. And, while in the past we staunchly supported Intel processors for providing the best performance, we now have an improved AMD Athlon chip which provides substantially better performance than any Intel processor, and at a bargain price.

We will first describe the specification for the new Roll Your Own computer, and then we will provide a detailed, step-by-step instruction for how to build it.

Upgrade It!

An outstanding feature of the RYO computers is the continuing ability for them to be upgraded. In fact, before I get into the new Roll Your Own recipe, I h ... Read More »

Outside of the I. C. Light Amphitheater, a multipurpose venue on the banks of the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh, a small group of stagehands is walking in little circles.

Right now.

I just came from there, where I was walking in little circles in support of these stagehands. Carrying a sign. Shouting slogans. Giving the ‘Power To The People” fist in appreciation to all the passersby who demonstrated their support.

I believe in and support organized labor. The only chance that the average worker has of getting a fair shake from management and owners is ensconced in the power that a united work force brings to the table. This situation is one that hopefully will resolve itself to be a “Case-In-Point”.

The Tattoo Crew

We call the I. C. Light stagehands “The Tattoo Crew”. They are the same guys and gals who work many of th ... Read More »

One of the most exciting events in audio this year is the eagerly anticipated release of SONAR, Cakewalk's replacement for the Pro Audio line of applications. Following in the footsteps of Pro Audio 9, SONAR is an integrated MIDI sequencer and audio multitrack recorder. However, SONAR has a number of new features and technologies which place it at the forefront of MIDI and audio technology.

Let's face it: Pro Audio was approaching a turning point. After nine versions Pro Audio was saddled with a long feature list including many features that most people would consider esoteric (such as a programming language, CAL, and object-oriented studio controller builder, StudioWare) and some features which should be obsolete (such as destructive editing tools for lowering volume and normalizing) it was time to clean out the deadwood and make room for new growth. We will see, however, that more pruning could have been done.

But first, let's review the new stuff. There's a lot to cover.

Serious New Techn ... Read More »

Comments (1)

Rip Rowan

Probably the hottest product to hit the audio world lately has been the Studio Projects line of condenser microphones. Discussion forums on the Internet are loud with posts to the effect that "you can't tell the difference between a C1 and a U87!" and that the Studio Projects mics are the best mics ever made. Still others call the C1 and its siblings "more crappy-sounding Chinese trash." Clearly, people are pretty opinionated about this little mic.

Studio Projects mics are built in China by Beijing 797 Audio. This is the same company which brought us mics by ADK, BPM, Marshall Electronics, Joemeek, Carvin, Nady, and others. Unlike those other distributors which seemed to hide the origins of the microphones, Studio Projects proudly proclaims the Chinese manufacturer, and in fact the 797 Audio logo is prominently displayed on the mic itself.

ProRec has been quite vocal about the overall quality of the Chinese import mics. In fact we have openly encouraged our readers to avoid them a ... Read More »

You can't walk through a music store these days without having to step over an inexpensive large-diaphragm mic made in China. They're everywhere.

A dozen companies have jumped into the market, reselling mics that are made in China but which sport deceptively cool German names like Audio Deutchkraft (based in Washington) and BPM Studiotechnik (at least based in Germany). Some of these companies are established entry-level audio companies looking to expand their product like - like Carvin and Nady - while others have used the availability of cheap, easy product to enter this new market - like Marshall Electronics, a.k.a. MXL, a cabling, video and surveillance company.

The first time I heard one of these mics I was pretty sure that Chinese mics were no threat to established mics from companies like Shure, AKG, and Neumann. I figured these "exploitation mics" would run their course and peter out. After all, I reasone ... Read More »

How did this project come together?

In early September I was brainstorming ways to raise awareness for the studio in the community here. I was also trying to think of a way to raise some funds - and also create a small record label to release some local talent. I have a healthy obsession with soul music, especially the Muscle Shoals sound. I thought it would be interesting to do a tribute to the sound and get some bands in here to record various songs.

I walked around the city putting up flyers and even had a small write-up in one of the weekly papers here.

You not only got the project rolling, but you managed to make some connections that would not have occurred to many of us.

I decided that I'd like to contact Jimmy Johnson to make sure he was okay with the idea, and also to see if he would like to write liner notes. I still planned on the release to be a small 500 run local a ... Read More »

I don't really know Chris Mickle. I think that this is odd, since we are in the same business and have worked many of the same venues and worked with some of the same artists. Sort of a small word/big world situation. We've recently began bumping into each other on line, and find that we have a lot in common. Chris's live recording trucks turn up at places like South By Southwest and Red Rocks, and the client list includes such artists as Puff Daddy, Melissa Etheridge, The Brian Setzer Orchestra, Ani DeFranco, Dave Mathews, and other high visibility artists. Read More »

JoeMeek recently introduced its entry into the budget large-diaphragm condenser microphone frenzy, the JM47. The company has now bundled that microphone together with its budget mic preamp, the VC3Q, into a package called the JM47 Trakpak. The package comes in a reasonably sturdy flight case, complete with spaces for the mic, the preamp, the shockmount, and the wall-wart style power supply.

Joemeek JM47 Trakpak

JM47 "Meekrophone"

Anyone who follows my articles and newsgroup posts knows that I'm a big fan of Groove Tubes equipment, particularly their condenser microphones and preamps. The MD1a, MD2a, and others are all excellent microphones that represent the best confluence of modern engineering and art.

So you can imagine that I was quite interested in the products to emerge from the acquisition of Groove Tubes by Alesis. Frankly, I was very skeptical of this alliance. Alesis is known for producing average quality pro-sumer digital gear. Groove Tubes is a boutique tube company focused on esoterica and which offers products with a real handmade approach. So when I got the opportunity to review two of Alesis' new GT tube mics, I jumped at the chance to see if these products live up to the Groove Tubes tradition.

AM62 Multipattern Large-Diaphragm Tube Mic

So Wither the Old?

Last month I detailed the fun that I had in acquiring a pair of vintage AKG C-28 microphones. This month I have done a lot more research into this model, replaced one of the capsules, corrected some errors in some of my earlier information, and spent a lot of time bending Tracy Korby's ear about my new acquisitions. I had hoped to have the mics and power supplies in hand by now, but unfortunately they are not ready yet. Still, I have discovered a lot about these microphones. Let me share some of what I have learned with you.

AKG: A Little History

Last time I reviewed a microphone, it ended up being a lesson in everything that's wrong with cheap large-diaphragm condensers. The ProRec mailbag exploded a few times, but we survived. Today, I get to tell you what's right. The RØDE NT1000 and NTK break the mold, with world-class specs and a smoothness that stands alongside microphones three times the price. On top of that, they're stunningly good-looking, with an over-the-top sturdiness that would serve as well in hand-to-hand combat as in the studio.

The Long Road to RØDE

(Left) NT1000 (Right) NTK

Digging Below the Surface

Sound-wise, the choice to purchase either of these microphones is a no-brainer. They deliver world-class tracks on the cheap. But this is but one element of their charm. Overall, these microphones are standard-setters that the entire industry would do well to study.

Everything about them both belies and explains their price. The cases themselves are substantial works of engineering art, reminiscent in design and construction to the venerable solid-brass Switchcraft phone plugs (the ones that never go bad). A picture here is worth a thousand words.

(Top) Switchcraft phone plug

... Read More »

Comments (1)

Bruce Richardson

The market for low-cost large diaphragm condenser microphones has become a little… well, clogged in the last couple of years. Some early, decent entries have been overtaken by a flood of me-too competitors in sub-$400 price range. The current crop is a hodgepodge of average-to-crappy mics that are designed to appeal primarily to home recordists who have little studio experience and even less experience auditioning and selecting microphones. Faced with a potentially big-ticket purchase, most of these consumers take what seems like a safe route: buy cheap.

When established studios buy expensive mics from a reputable dealer, they always have several options to help in the purchasing decision. First off, many dealers will allow the studio to rent the mic for a few days to audition it in their studio. Or, the studio might be able to get a selection of mics on loan. Reputable engineers sometimes get loan product direct from the manufacturer, just to try out for fun. And, if the unit just doe ... Read More »

So, waddaya wanna talk about?

Procrastination is my enemy. By screwing around, I have been scooped by other writers, beaten by changes in technology, or have just run out of enthusiasm for certain topics.

I was going to write about the big deal issue that was a major concern to the professionals. Watermarking of digital audio has their ranks in an uproar and has got as much discussion on their forums as Napster has gotten on other, less professional